Garden Size:
The first step to consider is the size of your garden. To determine this, decide how many vegetables you want to grow for you and your family? If you have lots of room and you love to garden, a big garden may be your choice - you can always give away what you don't need. If you plan on canning or freezing, a larger garden should be considered.

At the bottom of this page is a yield chart for some of the most common vegetables - keep in mind that these figures will vary depending on your soil conditions, weather, and of course, your ability.

Make a list with the vegetables, herbs and fruits you want to grow, and how much. You will then need to determine the area required for each one (see our grow guides for row spacing, companion planting etc - links are at the top of this page).

Location:
Once you have decided what size to make your garden, you will need to select a location. If possible, Pick a spot with full sun that is not shaded by trees or buildings. If you have to plant where partial shade may effect plants, be sure to plant shade tolerant plants in that area. Lack of sun can keep some plants to moist and encourage disease, slugs and other pests. If you live in a very hot climate, this may not be an issue. Here is a list of important factors when picking your location:

• Full sun with southern exposure is the best.
• Best soil on your property - soil conditions can vary drastically on the same property.
• Avoid low areas subject to flooding and constant water saturation - too wet and root crops / plant roots will suffer.
• Avoid areas where the ground is sandy or gravel - water may drain to quickly.
• Watering supply - If your garden is 300 feet away from the closest water supply, water pressure may be an issue, as well as hoses and the size of hose required - at 300 feet, you may need 3/4" hose to provide sufficient water and pressure. If your garden is uphill from your water source, this will further reduce pressure.

Layout:
Your layout is very important. To prevent shading of other crops, you will want tall crops such as corn, sunflowers and trellis vegetables at the most northern part of the garden - successive vegetables should be laid out according to mature height with the lowest planted at the south end of the garden.

Crop rotation is important. For example, if you are planting corn, never plant a single row right across the back of the garden (see our grow guide), corn requires cross-pollination and is best planted in 3 or more rows. See diagram below.




In addition to rotation, soil nutrients and pH are important and you can save lots of work by testing the soil and matching plants to the soil test results. If the soil is the same throughout the garden, you may need to add various amendments to accomodate certian vegetables.

Container Gardening:
If you have no good soil on your property and do not wish to spend time on soil building, container gardening may be the way to go. In some cases, preferred. Container gardens offer some advantages as follows:

• Less bending over - you can make them as high as you wish - subject to design.
• You can add top quality soil.
• Less tilling which is better for soil condition.
• Row covers can be secured easier.
• Depending on design, raised beds can serve as cold frames allowing for earlier planting. A seperate cover(s) may have to built for this purpose.
• Work well on small properties when a garden in one spot may not be possible.

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web usagardener.com